Sinan appointed chief imperial architect (Mimarbaşı)
MimarbaMimar SinanOttoman Empire
Sinan began serving as the Ottoman Empire’s chief architect in 1539, an office from which he shaped “Classical” Ottoman architectural language and supervised major imperial construction for decades.
Work started on the Şehzade Mosque, commissioned by Süleyman I in memory of Prince Mehmed. The project became a formative milestone in Sinan’s development of balanced, centrally-planned mosque forms.